Washington has agreed to annually grant visas for up to 30,000 students opting for higher studies in the US, which would be a tenfold increase over the existing limit of 3,000, a senior foreign ministry official said.
"We raised the issue during the second partnership dialogue, and the US side agreed to increase the number to 30,000 annually", Mahfuzur Rahman, director general of the America desk in the foreign ministry. The Second Bangladesh-US Partnership Dialogue was held on May 26-27, 2013 in Dhaka, where four major issues were discussed: trade and investment, development and governance, security cooperation and regional integration. "Students who want to pursue higher education in the US will not face difficulties as far as visa and financing are concerned", he said.
The senior official said the US is "100% committed" to allowing more students from Bangladesh. "We are going to have a 100m-strong workforce in the future, but our job market is not big enough to provide employment for them all", the official said, adding: "If the workforce has advanced knowledge, they will find a way out. The US side readily agreed to our proposal, and it will be executed from this year". About the supply-side problems, he said Bangladeshi students are not fully aware of the benefits provided by Washington. "Many factors, including finance and availability of visas, influence students to opt for higher studies in India, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries; but Washington is also offering the same study facilities", he said.
